


The Left is Yours, The Right is Mine

by ArchangelUnmei



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 17:17:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3258026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchangelUnmei/pseuds/ArchangelUnmei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Work and family don't stop, not even at the holidays, but Francis Bonnefoy really doesn't mind. Office parties are just a part of life when your wife is a powerful attorney, though adding small children doesn’t make things easier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Left is Yours, The Right is Mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [suddenlyapples](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suddenlyapples/gifts).



> Gift for suddenlyapples for the 2015 Fruk New Years exchange. I'm sorry it's so late. ;w; I managed to combine two of the requests, "baby America/Canada" and "India or Howard involvement". America and Canada aren't quite _babies_ in this, but hopefully it still suffices.
> 
> Thanks as always to Shacha, for beta-ing, patiently answering questions, reassuring me this isn't a mess of disjointed prose, and modding this whole dang exchange.

A New Years' kiss at midnight, shared standing in front of a bay window with the snowy, moonlit garden spread out behind them. The light is soft, shining off Elaine's hair where it's let down for the evening, falling over the exquisite curve of her bare shoulder- 

"Papa!" 

Francis Bonnefoy blinked, the small voice chasing away the thoughts of the year's first kiss. He made a few more quick strokes, feathering out Elaine's bangs a little more against her cheek, then set his sketchbook and pencil aside and turned his attention to the little girl waiting patiently beside his chair. 

He had to hide a smile. She was waiting patiently enough, usually in awe of watching Francis sketch, but today Madeline looked annoyed in a way that only six-year-olds could really successfully master, her cheeks puffed out and her eyes scrunched up. Francis' hidden smile turned into a soft frown. "Madeline, where are your glasses?" 

"Al took them!" Madeline stomped her foot, but even then didn't really raise her voice, and Francis coughed to mask another smile as he stood and scooped his daughter up into his arms. 

He'd barely taken a step toward the door, soothing a hand over Madeline's soft blonde hair to placate her, when Alfred trotted in. In stark contrast to his twin sister's huffing, Alfred was beaming, Madeline's glasses held carefully in his hands. He scurried over to Francis' feet and offered them up to her with a bright smile. 

(He was missing a tooth already; one very heart-stopping day that involved a fall from the back of the couch, a trip to the emergency dentist and Francis, honestly in fear for his life, having to call Elaine at work to tell her all of the above. He would be fine, the dentist had assured them, it was only a baby tooth, and his head was hard.) 

"Maddie, I cleaned them for you!" 

"Oh!" Madeline sat up a little straighter in Francis' arms, eyes going wide in surprise and anger chased away. "Oh. Um." She wiggled, and Francis bent to set her down again. She shuffled her feet, but offered her brother an apologetic smile as she took her glasses back from him. "Thank you, Alfie." 

Francis smiled approvingly, glad the situation had been so easily resolved and wondering if maybe they were doing alright with this parenting thing. (If only Elaine had been here to see it.) 

Elaine's pregnancy had not been an easy one. She'd hated taking time off work, and had chafed even more at the enforced bed rest for the last month or two. They both knew very early on that there was no way she would be taking extended maternity leave after; she'd drive herself crazy worrying about her firm ("Those idiots couldn't handle a case on their own if God Himself was the judge and all His angels the jury!"), and then Francis would end up forced to kill her. Learning that she was carrying twins had only sealed the deal, and Francis had decided to quit his job hosting at a local restaurant to stay home with the babies himself. It had turned out to be a blessing in disguise; he had far more time to devote to drawing and painting, and he loved getting to spend so much time with the children. He'd never gotten around to finding another job once the twins got older. Elaine made more than enough to support them all anyway, supplemented here and there by Francis' art sales. 

Alfred bounced on his toes, beaming at Madeline's thanks, and Francis looked back and forth between them in sudden suspicion. "What were you two doing that Madeline's glasses got dirty?" 

To his amusement (clearly neither of them were hurt, and he'd heard nothing breaking), they exchanged somewhat guilty glances. Francis put his hands on his hips and kept eyeballing them, silent pressure mounting and fidgeting increasing until finally Madeline cracked, "We were exploring, Papa." 

Francis raised an eyebrow. "Exploring what?" 

Alfred, always the more eager and exuberant of the two, burst out- "The basement! There was a _mouse_!" 

Francis' eyes widened, and Madeline went red, stomping lightly on her brother's toes. They both knew very well they weren't allowed down in the basement by themselves; it was dank and unfinished, the stairs were steep and rough and there was exposed wiring and plumbing. All in all, not a good place for children to play. For a precious moment Francis was completely at a loss for words, and in that moment Alfred saw opportunity, grabbing his sister's hand and trying to edge backward, though where he thought he was going to go was a mystery. 

"Stop," Francis crouched down in front of them, sighing a bit as he regarded them. As always, Madeline looked contrite for something she knew was wrong, and Alfred looked ready to wiggle out of as much trouble as he could (though never by throwing his sister under the bus. Possibly only because Madeline would bite when angered). It amazed Francis sometimes how completely different the twins could be (as different, really, as their mother and father). He looked back and forth between them, catching both their eyes in turn. "You both know you're not supposed to go in the basement." 

Alfred bit his lip, looking a bit apologetic for the first time, and tried, "It wasn't Maddie's fault, Papa, I made her go with me." 

Francis hummed a bit, then shook his head. "She knew it was wrong. She could have come and gotten me, but she went with you instead. She's just as guilty as you." 

"'S true," Madeline whispered, but Francis noticed she'd reached out and taken Alfred's hand, giving it a little squeeze. 

"Now then," Francis glanced down at his watch. "It's almost time for your mum to be home, and you know we're going to the New Years' party at her office tonight, so here's what we'll do. I need to start making dinner, you two will both be in time out until Mum gets home. But," he held up a finger, smiling a little at his children's honestly repentant looks. "If you are both quiet and still during your time out, I don't see why we have to tell her you had them, alright?" 

Both Alfred and Madeline beamed at him, much cheered up by the thought that Elaine wouldn't be lecturing them about the dangers of black mold on top of their time outs. "Okay!" Alfred agreed readily, reaching out to grab Francis' hand in addition to Madeline's. "We'll be really good, we promise." Madeline nodded her agreement, giving Francis a shier, thankful smile. He returned the smile, leading them both downstairs and positioning them in opposite corners of the living room where he could keep an ear out for them while cooking. Both of them plopped down to sit on the carpet, and after watching them for a moment Francis retreated to the kitchen. 

Pasta was quick and easy, and light enough to have before the party tonight. He checked the fridge, satisfied when he saw there was still enough sausage for a good marinara, and got to work. All was quiet in the living room, though when he glanced in once Alfred was flat on his back apparently staring at the ceiling with some intent. But he was quiet and still mostly where Francis had put him, so he decided not to call him on it and returned to the stove. 

About fifteen minutes later his wife arrived home, and the sound of her key in the lock had both twins jumping to their feet. Alfred bolted for the front hall to greet his mother, but Madeline peeked into the kitchen, looking at Francis with wide eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle, making a shooing motion with the spoon he was using to stir the pasta. "It's alright, Maddie, you may go." She beamed, disappearing from the doorway. 

Francis listened to their enthusiastic greetings, Elaine's softer replies as she got out of her coat and boots, giving the twins hugs and then shooing them away to play in their rooms until dinner was ready. 

When she came into the kitchen she sighed gustily, tossing her briefcase onto the kitchen counter, where it slid nearly all the way across and off the other side. She dropped heavily onto one of the stools they kept beside the counter, letting her head drop down with a 'thunk' that made Francis wince slightly as he glanced over at her. 

"...Rough day?" he ventured. 

Elaine just groaned, puffing out a breath to try and get her hair out of her face where her ponytail had slid forward, too tired or lazy to actually reach up and move it. Francis took pity, stepping away from the stove briefly to brush her hair back over her shoulder. She turned her head enough to give him a faintly grateful look, then sighed again and finally hauled herself upright, taking off her glasses to rub at the bridge of her nose. "The defense attorney on this case is an idiot." 

Carefully, Francis kept from smiling. The defense attorneys were _always_ idiots, but he could guess the source of this particular ire (since it was not, for once, himself). "Are you up against Gilbert again?" 

" _Idiot_ ," Elaine muttered forcefully as she nodded, pretty face screwed up into a scowl. "He even said he intended to crash our party tonight. Can you believe the nerve of him?" 

Francis just hummed and shook his head a bit, smiling as he took the pasta off the stove. "I can't say anything, Elaine, you know he and I get along." 

"Why did I marry you again?" Elaine grumbled, though without a lot of bite. It was not the first, nor would it be the last time that question passed between them, though never in any really serious manner. She finally hauled herself up off the stool to go upstairs to change, grabbing her briefcase and pausing to press a kiss to Francis' cheek. "I hope you're planning to shave before we go." 

"Of course," As she turned to go, Francis reached out to give her ass an affectionate pat. She huffed and swatted at his shoulder, his light laughter following her up the stairs. 

~*~ 

Rather than trying to hold the party at the office, the firm had rented out a local event hall. The decorations were done in silver and gold, white table cloths and crystal wine glasses. The guest list included not only employees of the firm and their families, but also other prominent attorneys (including Gilbert, no matter what Elaine had said about his declaration to crash) as well as several of the local judges and a few corporate clients. 

Madeline and Alfred had been coaxed into their best clothes, but there weren't many other children there at all. Some cynical part of Francis wondered if it was because lawyers were generally too busy to have families. But then he looked over at Elaine, her long pale hair left to tumble free down the back of her elegant dark green dress, genuinely smiling with Madeline in her arms. She (a small frothy ball of red velvet and white tulle) was very solemnly introducing herself to the district attorney, and he seemed charmed. Francis' cynisism faded somewhat; Elaine was not most lawyers. 

Alfred was being equally charming, working his way through the crowd (with Francis on his heels), telling all the women they looked beautiful while beaming earnestly. Some combination of six-year-old sincerity, glasses that were slightly too big and the missing tooth made Alfred by far the cutest thing most of them had ever seen. (Perhaps, after all, there was a benefit to Alfred and Madeline being the youngest children there.) 

But it didn't take long for Francis to start to feel out of place. He was good at small talk, but talking about the weather and the holidays got old very quickly. (Though he took a certain evil delight in the inevitable "How did you two meet?" questions when people found out he was Elaine's husband, because nobody was ever expecting the answer to be "She was my best friend's lawyer when he was victim of a robbery, and we got into a blazing row and then had sex on Antonio's couch when he wasn't home." Though he usually had the grace to omit the second half when in polite company.) He and one of the other attorney's wives got into a fascinating discussion about the merits of Andy Warhol and pop art in general, but soon she was called away to attend to her spouse and Francis grew bored again. Most of the snippets of conversation he caught involved things like statutes and precedents and whether or not assigning Gilbert as a court-appointed attorney counted as cruel and unusual punishment. 

(Francis really did like Gilbert, so he made a point of staying out of those arguments, but even he would admit that the man was a very unconventional lawyer. Perhaps there had been a little too much Phoenix Wright during his time at law school.) 

He glanced at his watch; barely 9:30 and he was ready to go home. Elaine seemed to be determined to work her way around the room and argue with everyone, and Francis did not begrudge her that. She seemed to be more or less enjoying herself, and Francis knew that all the mingling was good for her career. Especially with precious, adorable Madeline in her arms; the cynical part of him was back. 

Francis found a spot to lean against the wall where he could keep an eye on Alfred. He and one of the other boys (about twelve, neatly cut blond hair and suspenders, Francis had a vague thought he was related to Gilbert somehow) had found a deck of cards somewhere and were playing Go Fish under one of the drinks tables. The bartender seemed to find them adorable and let them be. 

"Wine?" 

"Mm?" Francis blinked himself out of his thoughts and turned to face the speaker. "No thank you, I have to drive- Howard!" He broke into a genuine smile at the sight of Elaine's personal secretary. "I didn't think you'd be here tonight, I hadn't seen you." 

He smiled, a little sheepish. "I got held up by some things at home, and then traffic. How are the twins?" 

Howard was a good match for Elaine; frightfully efficient at digging files out of wherever they were stored twenty years ago and steady enough to ride out her fits of temper unscathed. Francis might have been concerned about the old boss-and-secretary affair trope, except that he knew Howard was both in a serious relationship and, as perfect as he and Elaine were for each other professionally, anything personal between them never would have worked out. Howard was patient, but he was also _serene_. He didn't fight with Elaine about things, and Elaine needed a challenge to keep her from growing bored. 

(She'd even admitted as much to Francis once, after they'd had a terrible fight when the twins were less than a year old. "I don't ever _hate_ you," she'd said softly into the darkness of their bedroom where they were lying back-to-back, not touching. "You don't back down from me. I need that, I think. I argue with _everyone_ , that's part of why I chose law school." 

("I know," he'd replied, thinking of her brothers, how she'd punched Ian in the jaw on their wedding day, and he had just laughed and fetched her whatever it was she'd wanted. Elaine spoke in tempers and flailing arms and smacks to the back of the head, he'd learned that very quickly and realized that he must love her because her anger made him melt instead of driving him away. He shifted back just enough that they were pressed together, hips and spines and shoulder blades. He could feel her breathing, and unconsciously matched his rhythm to hers. "I wouldn't have married you if I had a problem with that, Ellie.") 

"See for yourself," he gestured over at Alfred under the table, paused as he noticed him yawning, reaching up under his glasses to rub at his eyes. Francis pursed his lips, looking for Elaine and Madeline and sure enough, Madeline was no longer sitting up and alert, but rather draped in Elaine's arms with her head on her mother's shoulder, clearly drowsing. 

Howard followed his gaze and chuckled. "Looks like it's bedtime." 

"Mm, yes, we were hoping the excitement of the party would help them stay up. Would you keep an eye on Alfred for a moment?" 

"Of course," Howard took his spot leaning against the wall, giving Francis a wry smile and making a little shooing motion. "If he falls asleep I'll make sure he doesn't get stepped on." 

"Merci," Francis made his way through the crowd, smiling when Madeline saw him coming and gave a sleepy wave. He leaned over enough to kiss her forehead softly, then waited until there was a break in conversation between Elaine and her coworkers before he cleared his throat softly to catch his wife's attention. "I'll take Maddie and Alfred home, they're both dozing off." Elaine gave him a blank look, and Francis gave a soft huff of laughter, reaching out to try and extract Madeline from her arms. "You can stay, it's not as though they're hard to put to bed when they're this sleepy-" 

"Rubbish," Elaine rolled her eyes, keeping firm hold of Madeline and leaning up (not as far as it normally was, with her in heels) to press a kiss to Francis' jaw. "If the rest of you are going, I am too." 

It was Francis' turn to give her a blank look. "Howard just got here and I'm sure there's people you haven't harassed yet, really, it's alright-" 

"No," Elaine's voice was somehow both gentle and very firm, giving Francis a quiet, warm look that made his heart and stomach do a quick interchange, all dark lashes and green eyes. "Family comes first tonight, even if it can't always." 

"Oh," was all Francis could manage to say, and then he smiled, leaning down to catch Elaine in a soft kiss. 

~*~ 

Alfred and Madeline were indeed very easy to put to bed. The most difficult part was getting them to stay upright long enough to get their fancy clothes off, both of them were exceedingly floppy and kept listing to the side. 

"Happy New Year," 

Francis blinked and looked up from his sketchbook just in time to see Elaine pad in with two glasses of champagne. She'd changed into a pair of cotton lounge pants (red tartan, a cheeky gift from Francis) and a t-shirt, but she was still wearing her pearls and the make-up from the party, hair tied back with a fuzzy pink hair band. Francis hadn't even bothered to change yet, just taken off his tie and unbuttoned the top couple buttons on his dress shirt. "Is it really?" 

Elaine's red lips curled up at the corners, and she offered him one of the glasses. "Almost." Once he took the glass, she settled onto the couch beside him, curling her legs up under her and tugging one of the blankets down from the back of the couch to spread across both their laps. She settled against his side, warm and soft, and Francis couldn't help the content sigh that slipped though his lips. 

"Gilbert's probably making a fantastic racket at midnight," he tried, and Elaine shrugged, a shift of bony shoulders against his ribs. 

"There's lots of parties, I don't have to be there for every second of all of them. Besides, my feet were starting to hurt." 

"Of course," Francis hid a smile against her hair, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to pull her a little closer, content beyond belief. "I prefer a quiet night anyway." 

"Mm," Elaine tilted her head into his shoulder, eying his sketchbook where he'd set it on the arm of the couch. "Is that Maddie?" 

"Oui," Francis shifted it back to his lap so she could see the rough outlines, Madeline in her frilly dress draped bonelessly across Elaine's shoulders, the roundness of her cheeks and arms a contrast against Elaine's slim back. 

"Oh," Francis glanced down and was delighted to find Elaine blushing. She reached out, tracing a fingertip along the curve of her own shoulder. "Is that really what I looked like?" 

She sounded so bewildered that Francis had to laugh, making Elaine stiffen beside him. He set the glass of champagne down, wrapping both arms around her to hug her close. "You are so beautiful, Ellie. Graceful even in a temper, you are my favorite thing to draw." 

Elaine made a squawking sound, part embarrassment and part flattered fluster, and Francis' grin widened. He leaned down to catch her in a proper kiss, savoring the way she slowly gave in, going relaxed and pliant in his arms. It wasn't quite the traditional New Years kiss he'd envisioned earlier in the day, but in so many ways it was better, warmed Francis all through. When he drew back, Elaine's eyes were dark and hazy, and she gave a soft smile as she reached up to cup a hand along his jaw, brush the pad of her thumb over the corner of his mouth. "You've got a little lipstick just there..." 

Francis huffed a laugh, not even dignifying that with an answer as he moved his sketchbook to the safety of the coffee table. Then he wrapped his arms around Elaine's waist, pulling her onto his lap and into another kiss. 

They didn't surface until well after midnight.

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't find a place to actually work him into the fic, but India is a family friend that Francis knows from his time working at a restaurant. He comes over to babysit and make curry, and the twins love him.
> 
> The title comes from the RADWIMPS song "Order Made", which is one of my favorite songs of all time.
> 
> _So that when I meet an important person  
>  And I hold her for the first time  
> I will understand that our two hearts  
> Beat together on each side of our chests._
> 
> _The left is mine, the right is yours  
>  The left is yours, the right is mine  
> So when I am alone I know something is missing,  
> So I do not live on alone._


End file.
